SENSIBLE WATER SOLUTIONS FOR A DROUGHT STRICKEN SOUTH AFRICA · Data query facility ... provide an...

SENSIBLE WATER SOLUTIONS FOR A DROUGHT STRICKEN SOUTH AFRICA

eBOOK

W W W . I M Q S . C O . Z A

INFRASTRUCTUREMANAGEMENTSOLUTIONS.

IMQS is a specialised software solutions company. We have provided proven

Infrastructure Asset Management (IAM) Solutions & Services to over 100

government and private organisations in South Africa and Internationally for

more than a decade.

i

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This E-book outlines IMQS Software’s envisioned contribution to the

challenges drought-stricken South African municipalities currently face in

terms of managing dwindling water resources.

IMQS showcases the ability to make use of the latest technologies in

telemetry to enable municipalities to gain comprehensive control over their

water distribution networks. Sensors are placed at various points along the

network. They provide (near) real-time information to operate and optimise

the network. The use of sensors can strongly increase the ability of utilities

to proactively detect anomalies and risks. Moreover, intelligence emanating

from captured data can help them make informed decisions regarding the

management and maintenance of all assets within their water distribution

network, especially the quality of water.

Smart water solutions contribute to cities becoming more resilient and thus

smarter over time. With the help of smart information hardware and software,

data can be captured from various sources and stored in a central database

for analytics.

Integrated smart water management solutions enable municipalities to

appreciate the value of their data. Valuable information increases the speed

and scope of decision-making. Mapping information through GIS software

adds extra value as information can be presented spatially and over time.

Overlaying multiple data layers, and presenting it in an easy-to-interpret

fashion, provide users with the appropriate level of context to make holistic

decisions.

A reliable water quality information system enables utilities to develop a

better understanding of water quality conditions in the distribution network.

Valuable information can inform decision-making and facilitate preventative

maintenance.

Smart water solutions, in effect, contribute to cities becoming more resilient

and thus smarter over time.

ii

BEING SMART IN TIMES OF DROUGHT.

IMQS’S SMART WATER SOLUTION.

WATER NETWORK ANALYSIS AND REPORTING.

THE BENEFITS OF SMART DATA MANAGEMENT.

CONTACT DETAILS.

RESULTS ACHIEVED.

Contents .0 1

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iii

South Africa is no stranger to water insecurity. Over the last decade, however,

a convergence of factors has severely impacted the region’s hydro-security.

Climate variability, spurred on by El Nino, as well as global trends, has

increased the frequency and severity of floods and droughts. Population

growth, urbanisation, commercialisation and industrialisation place further

pressures on authorities to meet growing demand.

Since 2015 a large portion of South Africa has experienced extended periods

of drought, with five provinces being declared disaster zones. In 2017, the

severity of Cape Town’s water shortages, for example, caught international

media attention, with extreme conditions being met with ever staggering

water restrictions.

In reaction to the severity of the Western Cape’s increasingly dire situation,

Alan Winde, Minister of Economic Opportunities for the Western Cape

Government, has called for innovative approaches to support local

government in managing, and overcoming current and future challenges.

Tackling the stronghold of increasing and longer periods of droughts requires

significantly more than just managing the infrastructure and resources better.

Implementing smart solutions, built on the back of technological advance,

does not only represent the future of city management. Smart technological

solutions have, in effect, become a necessity!

Smarter, more effective management of water in relation to the urban water

cycle can contribute to more effective Water Services Planning and Water

Demand Management. The municipalities whose solutions are resilient and

scalable have the most opportunities to become Smart Cities.

This document outlines IMQS Software’s envisioned contribution to the

challenges faced by South African municipalities. By making use of the latest

technologies in sensing and remote monitoring, IMQS holds the ability

to enable municipalities to gain comprehensive control over their water

distribution network. Empowered by information aggregated from real-time

and historical data analytics, and displayed, geographically, on an easy to use

interface, IMQS users can make informed decisions about their current and

future water management needs based on true business intelligence.

BEING SMART IN TIMES OF DROUGHT

IMQS | SENSIBLE WATER SOLUTIONS FOR A DROUGHT STRICKEN SOUTH AFRICA 01

IMQS’S SMART WATER SOLUTION

A Smart City uses digital technologies to enhance performance and wellbeing,

to reduce costs and resource consumption, and to engage more effectively

and actively with its citizens. Smart Cities are those that have overcome the

limited nature of their infrastructure.

Another key term is resilience. By harnessing smart technologies, Smart

Cities can become resilient to population growth, climate change and man-

made disasters, among other things. Moreover, in order to engineer social

upliftment in complex development-centred contexts, systematic, holistic and

integrated approaches to the maintenance and management of public assets

are imperative.

A smart water network is an integrated set of products, solutions, and systems

that enables municipalities and utilities to continuously and remotely monitor

and diagnose problems in their water distribution network. Implementing a

smart water network can increase visibility and flag risks early enough to take

effective action.

Sensors are placed at various points along the network. They provide (near)

real-time information to operate and optimise the network. The use of sensors

can strongly increase the ability of utilities to proactively detect anomalies

and risks. Moreover, intelligence emanating from captured data can help them

make informed decisions regarding the management and maintenance of all

assets within their water distribution network, especially the quality of water.


Sensors can measure physical properties like:

Usage

Flow

Pressure

Temperature

Conductivity

Water quality

Data can be streamed from the individual sensors through an industry standard protocol to a time series

database where it is stored, extracted and analysed. Aggregated information can then be presented

geospatially in order to derive value from it.


WATER NETWORK ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

Water Network Analysis involves enabling the reporting of hydraulic analysis

results through the IMQS Web portal, which consists of:

Spatial analysis tools

Data query facility

Standard reports

Collaboration tools

GIS layout view

The IMQS solution focuses on both real-time data monitoring and reporting

services:

Real-time data monitoring: involves enabling monitoring measurements

from smart monitoring devices.

Reporting services: encompass a centralised reporting service to create

and publish relevant tabular and graphical reports, necessary to easily

monitor KPI’s.

Data streams in real time from sensors to a centralised data historian, which

is backed by a time-series database. On top is a web-based, GIS oriented

presentation layer, based on the IMQS platform. It integrates real-time,

network and customer data, as well as data from other sources. The collected

sensor and alarm data are shown by IMQS in real time. The time-series data is

furthermore stored, aggregated and analysed by the data historian. Analytical

data is then retrieved and presented by IMQS in a graphical format.

Stellenbosch Local Municipality is the latest client to implement a near-live

view on their telemetry data in IMQS, as well as a view on other logger data,

like MyCity and Zednet.


Figure 1: Reservoir telemetry data

Figure 2: Integration with Zednet or other data logger systems

05IMQS | SENSIBLE WATER SOLUTIONS FOR A DROUGHT STRICKEN SOUTH AFRICA

IMQS presentation layer presents network and sensor information in a geospatial context, for example

the location of sensors in DMA zones:

Figure 3: DMAs in selected zones (blue areas) and sensor locations (purple dots)

Users have immediate access to current values and historic trends of the sensor data as exemplified in

Figure 4 below:

Figure 4: Historic trends of a selected sensor measurement


According to feedback, the user interface is both responsive (quick to navigate and display data) and easy

to use (avoiding deeply nested menu structures). This is especially important for users such as operators.

Not only does the geospatial presentation provide an intuitive way to access the information at various

aggregation levels (e.g. zooming in from region, via city all the way to street level), it also offers the

opportunity for novel information tools.

A good example is the Flow Map depicted in Figure 5 below. The Flow Map displays flow arrows

proportionate to the actual flow measured at sensor locations. The flow map can be used as a tool to

quickly identify the possible location area of large breaks (‘follow the flow’).

The time slider at the bottom can be used to go back in time, which is useful in a post-event analysis or

comparing night/day patterns.

Figure 5: Flow map with time slider

Apart from showing raw measurement values (e.g. temperature value in degree Celsius), the presentation

also includes categorization (e.g. too low, low, normal, high, too high) and warning levels (normal, warning.

alarm).


Warning and alarm events are pushed immediately from IMQS to the user’s browser, as depicted in

Figure 6 below, where a map of events is provided:

Figure 6: Notification for Water Quality, Pressure, Leak detection and Temperature events

When read together, Figure 7 and 8 below offer a more concrete example of how real-time data

presentation facilitates rapid maintenance activities.

In the case of a pipe burst in Figure 7, IMQS was made aware of a problem by observing a drop in pressure

along with a spike in flow. The resulting speed in reaction time minimized downtime and thus achieved

better customer service for the utilities company.


Figure 7: IMQS picks up a drop in water pressure

Figure 8: IMQS picks up a spike in flow


RESULTS ACHIEVED

A wide variety of sensors were integrated with IMQS.

Sensor data is centrally collected and stored through IMQS.

A web-based, GIS oriented presentation layer provides a single,

integrated and user-friendly interface dealing with multiple data

sources.

The geospatial presentation and access to information offers new means

to interpret and act on real-time data, e.g. the localisation of pipe breaks.

Presenting the outcomes of various activities and themes to the senior

management and other stakeholders has been made easier.


BENEFITS OF SMART DATA MANAGEMENT

With the help of smart information hardware and software, data can be

captured from various sources and stored in a central database for

analytics.

Integrated smart water management solutions enable municipalities to

appreciate the value of their data.

Valuable information increases the speed and scope of decision-making.

Mapping information through GIS software adds extra value as

information can be presented spatially and over time.

Overlaying multiple data layers, and presenting it in an easy-to-interpret

fashion, provide users with the appropriate level of context to make

holistic decisions.

A reliable water quality information system enables utilities to develop a

better understanding of water quality conditions in the distribution

network.

Valuable information can inform decision-making and facilitate

preventative maintenance.

Smart water Solutions contribute to cities becoming more resilient and

thus smarter over time.


WWW.IMQS .CO.ZA

E: [email protected]

Masheke MukwamatabaCHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER

E: [email protected]

Erick Underhill

+27 (0) 21 880 2712

+27 (0) 11 620 1208

WWW. IMQS.CO.ZA

[email protected]

CONTACT US

EOH Business Park

Gillooly’s View

Osborne Lane

Bedfordview

South Africa

2007

STELLENBOSCH

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

JOHANNESBURG

Stellenpark

Buildings 4 & 5

Cnr R44 & School Road

Jamestown

Stellenbosch

7600

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